Tips for Promoting Your Blog Content Across Social Media Platforms

I know you wish that publishing your post is enough to get the traction you need but then, it’s just the beginning as bloggers and journalists now know. A major contributing factor to the success or otherwise of your work is how well you can promote it on social media. 

Why is this so? Your readers are on social media and it’s important that you reach them where they are. This fact is corroborated by Pew Research Center’s findings that close to 70 percent of Americans get at least some of their news on social media platforms.

Promoting your blog content is not as easy as creating a post and sharing it across social media platforms, as no two platforms are the same. You need to be able to tailor content to resonate with each platform. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn make up the four largest social media platforms and the following tips will teach you how to promote audience specific blog content across board on all platforms.

First things first. The smart way is the easy way and this means that you need to know your audience and where to find who.

Some of your readers may be active on Instagram while others are quiet followers on Facebook. In some cases, you will be sure to find younger audiences on TikTok

Research further to observe the platforms where are posts are mostly shared and their respective levels of engagement. You want to also know the social media channels that have active conversations related to your blog content.

You can as well take note of the demographics of the different social media channels to see the ones that best represent your target audience.  

Once you have a clear picture of where you can get the attention of your readers, you can create content that will be in line with their preferences on their platform.   

The Twitter Experience

Twitter currently has over 330 million active users monthly and tops the list of choice social media platforms for many journalists.

But then, Twitter is not a platform for the slow as over 8,000 tweets are sent every second. This makes it hard to have a post that stands out through the pile of many others. A link to your blog amidst a catchy headline won’t cut it.

So, what will work on Twitter?

Timing

Twitter is a high-speed platform and you’ll want to promote your content as soon as it is published. Trending news usually get the most traffic but you can find a way around this by being strategic with your timing. Work with the online pattern of your followers’ plan to put up your posts when they are most active.

Conciseness

Be intentional about the choice and length of your words. Tweets that use 100 characters or less have a higher engagement than tweets with longer characters. The fact that Twitter has a 280-character limit does not automatically translate to you using it up. Let your tweets be straight to the point.

Creativity

Most people will be drawn to eye-catching visuals. In fact. 65% of people are visual learners, use this to your advantage. Use captivating headlines, images, videos, infographics, statistics and emojis to catch your audience’s attention.  You can also engage followers and draw them into the content on your blog site by using twitter polls.

Reach

Hashtags, mentions and links, are important factors that will make your post searchable, connect you with people beyond your followers and increase your audience base. But because too much of a good thing can be bad, don’t overdo this though if you don’t want your post flagged as spam.

The Facebook Story

Facebook has different options for everyone, and is a source of news updates for about 43 percent of U.S adults.

Facebook posts take various forms- text, photo, video, and link. There is no excuse not to share your content in at least one of these various ways.

Text

You can share a post with the text-only update. As texts do not have visual elements to stimulate conversations, ask related questions or put up a strong call to action to increase engagement on text updates.

Photo

Promote URLs in a post with a photo. If you don’t an image of your own, check out free stock photo sites for free photos.

Video

Want to utilize a video instead? Even better, as more than 500 million Facebook users are watching video on the platform every day.

Leverage personal network: As much as you publish your content on a company’s official Facebook page, try to share it as well on your personal page. This will extend its reach to your followers that may not yet be on the company’s official page. Plus, you will get a further boost when friends and family like the post.

Plan with events: The event section is a unique element that allows you to create an event, build awareness for it and boost participation online. It’s not limited to physical events, so you can plan creative events like blog series and vlogs and let your followers know what you are up to.

Use the search function: The search tool is great for finding conversations and groups that are related to the topic of your post. Can your post answer their question or proffer a solution to their problem? Share the word by utilizing the search function.

The LinkedIn Style

LinkedIn is a structured platform that allows you to put up industry specific updates targeted at your contemporaries. Its also a networking platform so you can connect with sources, potential employers and employees.

Most of the active audience on LinkedIn are on the lookout for content that will boost their career growth and development and you will need to tailor your post to mee this need. This does not mean a complete rewrite but a creative tweak. The following tips will help you get the best of LinkedIn.

Quality

Don’t be in rush to put up post after post. Pay attention to the quality of your posts. It is better to have one good post per day and two or three posts weekly than to churn out poor quality posts at every turn.

The group way

Great networking opportunities can be found in groups, so look out for groups that will add value to your business. Take a look at the group’s regulations so that your posts are not flagged as spam.

Make it socially appealing

LinkedIn is still a social platform irrespective e of the serious outlook it can have sometimes. So, let your content flow here just like other social platforms. Use attractive multimedia, tag relevant people and use the right hashtags.

Make relevant comments.

Appropriate comments will get you noticed on LinkedIn and in turn promote your content. Contribute your thoughts to relevant conversations that apply to your own posts. This is a natural way to promote your content discreetly without coming off as forceful.

The Instagram Approach

Instagram is the most fashionable social media platforms in the world, loved for its appealing collection of pictures and stories of all sorts.

It has about 1 billion active users monthly with over one-third of this population aged 35 and below. This is a sure platform to connect with a younger audience.

In case you’ve forgotten, people remember 80% of what can see. This means that this is a platform for you to grab attention with eye-catching content.  How does this work?

Timing

Instagram users usually browse the app with their mobile devices during lunch and after work hours so this might be a good time to put up your posts. While Sunday is a no no for posting serious content, days like Wednesday and Thursday usually have the highest engagement rates.

Searchability

Instagram works with hashtags as well, so code your posts with relevant markers. This will help your audience to easily find your content. Once again, simplicity is the rule of the game. Three to five hashtags will be just fine and anything more will be excessive.

Creativity

Instagram is about visuals and the audience revolves around pages that tell the best stories with appealing graphics. Create a visual angle. However, if your blog doesn’t have the necessary visual to sell it you can create appealing graphics instead.

Just in case you don’t have a graphics designer, you can create amazing designs with graphic platforms such as Canva. Plus, it has a range of templates you can choose from to create your own custom design.

In a nutshell

Every platform is unique in its own way and you need to be able to fit your content to connect with your different audiences.

You can schedule your content to make posting easier, so you know what goes where and when.

Have a list of necessary hashtags for reference purposes and take note of the accounts you mostly interact with. Lastly but in no way the least. Opt for a social media management tool such as Falcon.io to organize your scheduling, posting and interactions. You will also get to measure your progress level and know the areas you need to improve on.